No matter who you love—or how you display it—Pride Month in Raleigh, N.C., provides plenty of chances to show up, show off and celebrate the LGBTQ community. 

The 13th annual Out! Raleigh Pride festival—one of the state's largest Pride gatherings—will take place June 20 and 21 in downtown Raleigh this year (the fist-ever two-day event!).

Drawing more than 50,000 attendees in recent years, the addition of a Friday night (6-10pm) block party intended for ages 18 and up is a much-anticipated affair. The Saturday festival is an all-day, family-friendly affair that has a bit of everything from noon to 7pm on Fayetteville St. in the center of the city: two stages of live music and dancing, local food and shopping vendors, a beer garden, photo booths, kids' activities and more. 

A full entertainment schedule is expected to be released very soon, but headlining acts have already been announced. The queens of the moment will be Sasha Colby—an iconic trans-Hawaiian woman known as the iconic winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 15—and Crystal Waters, a dance music singer-song writer with an incredible 12 Billboard no. 1 hits to her name. 

Out! Raleigh Pride weekend is rounded out with some other adult-only events, including Saturday night after-parties at music venue The Ritz and iconic LGBTQ nightclub Legends, plus Latino Pride Night with Sabor V at 440 Nightclub. 

The rest of the month is filled up as well—see below for more activities that embrace love, acceptance and community in June! 

 

 

 

 

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More Pride events in the Raleigh area

^{This is not an exhaustive list! Follow @raleighpridenc on Instagram to stay in the loop for more.}

• May 31: Run 4 Love 5k at Dix Park and Trophy Brewing 
• June 1: Hell Yes Ma’am its Pride at Raleigh Brewing 
• June 1: Raleigh Iron Works Pride Kickoff at Raleigh Iron Works 
• June 6: Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s Pride First Friday 
• June 6: Pride Cary Night Market at Downtown Cary Park
• June 6: Music in the Park Celebrates Pride in Morrisville
• June 6: Fashion Showcase at Artspace
• June 7: Witchcraft: Queer Art Market at The Wicked Witch
• June 8: Pride Ride: LGBTQ+ Trolley Tour
• June 10: Pride Poetry Open Mic at Blackbird Books & Coffee
• June 14: Pride Market at Hartwell Raleigh hosted by Urban Pothos 
• June 14: Apex Geek and Grub Market: Love, Rainbow and Unicorn Edition 
• June 14: Apex Pride Festival 
• June 18: Bey Night: Homecoming Dance Party at The Rialto
• June 20: One Last Time… One Last Pride at Legends Nightclub
• June 20-21: Out! Raleigh Pride
• June 21: Girl’s Room Pride Party at Junction West
• June 21: Sabor V Latino Pride Night at 440 Nightclub 
• June 21: Legends Pride Night at Legends Nightclub 
• June 21: GAG! Queen at The Ritz 
• June 21: Pride Night with the North Carolina Courage
• June 22: GAG! Tea Dance at Johnson Street Yacht Club 
• June 22: Pride Patio Party at Legends Nightclub
• June 28: Fuquay-Varina Pride Celebration
• June 29: Pride in the Park at Downtown Cary Park 

^{Header photo by Keenan Hairston}